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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1917)
THE 8EMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. ROSE STANTON ALDRICH MEETS A FAMOUS ACTRESS AND HEARS SOME PUZZLING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE RELATIONS OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES 8YNOP8I8 Roso Stanton, student at the University of Chicago, l.s put off a street car In tho rain after un argument with tho conduc tor. Sho Is nccofted hy n young man who offers help and escorts her homo. An hour later, this man, Rodney Aldrlch, well-to-do lawyer, appears at tho homo of his sister, tho wealthy Mrs. Whitney, to at tend a birthday dinner In his honor. Mrs. Whitney suggests that It's nbout time Rodney looked around for a wife. He laughs at her, but two months later ho marries Roso Stanton. CHAPTER IV Continued. Sho refused to hear a word moro tn those circumstances. "I'm coming atratght down," sho said, "and we'll go Bomewhcro for lunch. Don't you real ise that wo can't talk about It Uko this? Of course you wouldn't, but It's o." Over tho lunch-tablo sho got as de tailed an account of tho affair as Rod ney, In his somnambulistic condition, was ablo to glvo her, and sho pussed It on to Martin that evening as they drovo across to tho North side for dinner. "Well, that all sounds exactly Uko Rodney," ho commented. "I hopo rou'll Uko tho girl I" - "That Isn't what I hope," said Fred erica. "At least It Isn't what I'm most concerned about. I hopo I can make her Uko mo. Roddy's tho only brother Fro got In the world, and I'm not go ing to lose him If I can help It. That's what will happen If she doesn't Uko me." As It happened, though, sho forgot aU about her resolution almost with her llrst look at Roso. Rodney's at tempts at description of her had been well-meaning; but what ho had pro pared his sister for, unconsciously of courso, In his emphasis on ono or two phases of their first acquaintance, had been a sort of slatternly Amazon. .But tho effect of this was, really, very happy; becauso when n perfectly pro aentubly clad, well-bred, admirably poised young girl camo Into tho room and grcotcd her neither shyly nor eagerly, nor with any affectation of ease, a girl who didn't try to pretend It wasn't a critical moment for her, but, was game enough to meet It with out any evidences of panic when Frcderlca realized that this wus tho Roso whom Rodnny hud been telling her about, sho fell In lovo with her on tho spot. Amazingly, as sho watched tho girl and heard her talk, sho found sho was considering, not Rose's availability as a wlfo for Rodney, but Rodney's ns a husband for her. It was this, perhaps, that led her to say, at tho end of her leave-taking; "Roddy has boon such a wonderful brother, always, to me, that I suspect you'll find him, some times, being a brother to you. Don't let it hurt you If that happens 1" j CHAPTER V. The Prlnctss Cinderella. When tho sodnty editor of "Ame rica's foremost newspaper," as in Its trado-mark It proclaims Itself to bo, announced that tho Rodney Aldrlches had taken tho Allison McOracs house, furnished, for year, beglunlng In October, sho spoke of It as an Ideal rrangoment As everybody knew, It was an Ideal houso for a young aerrled couple, and It was equally vldcnt that tllo Rodney Aldrlches wero on Ideal cauplo for It, I In the senso that It loft nothing to further realization, It was an Ideal houso; an old houso in tho Chicago enso, built over Into something very nch older still Tudor, perhaps Jacobean, anyway. In tho supplemen tary ninttera of furnlturo, hangings, rugs and pictures, the establishment presented tho last politely spoken word la things as they ought to bo. If you happened to llkft that sort of thing, tt was precisely I ho sort of thing you'd like. Tho same soft of neat, fully nc ralred perfection characterized tho UcCrao'B domestic arrangements, livery other year they went off around thb world la one direction or another, and rented their houso, furnished, for exactly enough Co pay all their ex panses. On tho alternate years thoy Mine back and rpont two years' in Mfiio living In tbtlr house. Florence McCrto was an old friend at Rodney's nnd ft was her notion thnt it would bo just tho thing ho'd want. Xcdnoy knew for himself what tho kxwso was complete down to tho cwkscrews. And six thousnnd dollars a year was simply dirt cheap. To clinch tho thing, Florence wont eeund and bow FrcJerlcn about It And Frederics, after, listening, uon eemmlttaUy, dashed off to tho last Meeting of the Thursday club (all this happened In June, Just before tho wedding )nnd talked tho matter over with Violet Williamson on tho way home, afterward. "John said once," observed Violet, "that If wo had to llvo In that house, ho'd either go out nnd buy a plush Morris-chair from feather-your-nest Snltzmnn's, and a golden-oak side board, or else run nmuck." Frcderlca grinned, but was sure It wouldn't affect Rodney that way. As for Rose, sho thought Roso would Uko It for a while, anyway. But this wasn't tho point. "I'm so foolish nbout old Rodney, thnt I can't bo suro I hnvon't well, caught being mod nbout Roso from him. It all depends, you see, on whether Roso is going to bo a hit this winter or not. If sho doesn't go (nnd It nil depends on her ; Rodney won't bo much help), why, hav ing a houso Uko 'that might bo pretty sud So, If you'ro a truo friend, you'll tell mo what you think." "Whnt I really think," said Violet "of courso I suppose I'd say this any woy, but I do honestly mean It Is thnt slio'll bo what John calls a 'knock-out. She's so perfectly simple. Sho's never don't you know being anything. Sho just is. And sho' thinks we're all so wonderful that she'll muko everybody feel warm and nice Inside, and they'll bo sure to like her." "Sho's got a real eye for clothes, too," said Frcderlca. "We've been shopping. Well, then, I'm going to tell Rodney to go ahead and take tho house." Roso was consulted about it, of course, though consulted Is perhnps not tho right word to uso. She wns taken to seo It,- anyway, and asked If sho liked It a question In tho nature of tho superfluous. Ono might ns well havo asked Clndorella If sho liked tho gown tho fairy godmother had pro vided her with for tho prlnco's ball. It didn't occur to her to ask how much tho rent would be, nor would tho fact lmvo had any value for her ns an Ulumlnant, because sho would havo had no idea, whether six thou sand dollars was a half or a hun dredth of her futuro husband's Income. Tho now houso was just n part, as so many of tho other things that hnd happened to her slnco that night when Rodney hnd sent her flowers and taken her to tho theater and two restaurants In Martin's biggest Umouslno had been parts, of a brcath-arrcstlug fairy story. Tho conclusion Frcderlca and Violet had como to about her chanco for social success, wus amply justified by tho event, nnd It Is probable that Vlolot had put her finger upon tho main-spring of it. So it fell out that what with tho Junior league, tho wom en's auxiliary boards of ono or two of tho moro respectable charities, tho Thursday club and tho Whlfllers (this wns tho smnllcst nnd smartest organi zation of tho lot), flfteou or twenty young women supposed to comblno and reconcile social and Intellectual bril liancy on oven terms. What with all this, her days wero quite as full ns tho evenings wore, when sho and Rod ney dined and went to tho opcrn nnd paid fabulous prices to queer profes sionals, to keep themsolvcs abreast of tho mlnuto In all tho new dances. Portia had been quite right In say ing that sho never had to do nuy thing; tho rallying of nil her forces under tho spur of necessity wns nn experi ence sho had never undergone Aud It wus also truo thut her mother, nnd for that matter, Portia herself, had spoiled her n lot had run ubout do ing llttlo things for hor, como In and shut dowu her windows In the morning, nnd opened tho register, and, on any sort of excuse, on n Saturday morning, for example, had brought her her breakfast on n tray. But theso things had been favors, not services nover to bo asked for, of courso, aud always to bo nccepted a llttlo apologetically. Sho hnd nover before kuown what It wus really to bo served. "I haven't," Roso told Rodney ono morning, "a single, blessed mortal thing to do all day." Some llxturo scheduled for that morning had been moved, sho went on to explain, nufl Eleanor Randolph was feeling seedy and had called off a llttlo luncheon aud matinee party. "Oh, that's too bad," ho said with concern. "Can't you manage some thing . . . ?" "Too bad!" said Roso In lively dis sent. "It's too heavenly I I've got n whole day Just to enjoy being myself; being " she reached for his hand, and, getting It, stroked her cheek with It "being my new self. Portia used to think I fnked pretty well. But I never wus don't you know? right. So, you see, It's n real adventure just to say well, that I want the car at u quarter to eleven and to tell Otto exactly where I wnnt him to drive me to. I always feel as If I ought to say tlmt If he'll Just stop the cur at the corner of Dlversey street, I enn walk." lie laughed out at that and asked her how long sho thought this blissful state of things would last. ' "Forever," sho said. But presently she looked nt him rather thoughtfully. "Of courso It's none of it new to you," she said, "not tho silly llttlo things, nor the things wo do together oh, the dinners, nnd tho dances, nnd the operas. Do you sort of wish I'd get tired of ltV Is It a dreadful bore to you?" "So long as it doesn't bore you," ho said; "so long as you go on shining the wny you do over It, and I am whero I can seo you shine" he took hold of both her hands, "so long as it's like thnt, you wonder," he said, "well, tho dinners and the operns and all that may be plflle, but I shall be blind to the fact." Sho kissed both his hands and told him contentedly thnt ho was n darling. But, after a moment's silence, a little frown puckered her eyebrows and she nsked him what ho was so solemn about. Well, ho had told her tho truth. But precisely us he said It, he felt that he was not tho sumo mnn he had been six months ago. Not the man who had tramped Impatiently buck nnd forth across Frederlca's drawing-room, ex pounding his Ideals of space and lei sure. Not the mnn who despised the clutter of expensive Junk. That man would have derided the possibility that ho could over say this thing that he, still Rodney Aldrlch, had just suld to Rose and meant. And the terrify ing thing wns that ho hadn't resisted the change hadn't wanted to resist didn't wnnt to now, as ho sat there looking at the slumbrous glory of her eyes. So, when sho asked him what he was looking so solemn about, he said with more truth than ho pretended to himself, thnt it was enough to make anybody solemn to look at her. CHAPTER VI. The First Question and Its Answer. Rose's Instinctive attitude toward tho group of young to ralddle-nged married people Into which her own mnrrlago had Introduced her wns founded on the nssumptlon that, allow ing for occasional exceptions, the bus bnnds nnd wives felt toward each other as she and Rodney did were held together b? tho same Irresistible, unnnalyzablo attraction. Oh, there were bumps und bruises, of course I Sho had seen Rodney drop off now nnd again Into a scowling ab straction, during which It was so evi dent ho didn't want to talk to .her, or oven bo reminded thnt she was" nbout, thnt she had gone away flushed and wondering, nnd needing nn offort to hold back tho tears. Theso weren't frequent occurrences, though, and did not weaken her Idea that, burring trnglc and disastrous types unfaithful husbands, cold, mer- "I'vo Got a Whole Day Juit to Enjoy Being Myself." cenary wives which hud to be nd mlttod ns exlstlug mnrrlago was a state whoso happy satlsfuctorlness could, moro or less, bo tukcu (or grunted. It wns something thnt Slmtmo Ore villa snld which gave rlso to her first misgiving that marriage was not, per hnps oven between peoplo who loved euch other qulto as simple as it seemed. No ono has studied our lei sured nnd cultivated classes with moro candor and penetration than this great Frnnco-Austrlun nctress. Sho hnd omplo opportunities for observation, becauso, while she played to houses that couldn't be dressed to look moro thnn n third full, sho wns enormously In demand, for luncheons, teas, dinners, suppers, Christmas bazaars, charity dances, and so on. Rose hnd met her a number of times before the Incident referred to hap pened, but hnd ulwnys surveyed th6 lioness from afur. She hung nbout, within earshot when it wns possible, and watched, leaving tho nctlvo duties of entertain meut to heavily cultured Ulumlnutl like tho Howard Wests, or to clover crentures like Hormlone Woodruff und Frcderlca, and Coustnnce Crawford, whose French wns good enough to fill In the Interstices In Mudnme Grevllle's English. Sho wns stnndlng nbout Uko that at a tea ono afternoon, when she henrd tho actress make the remnrk that Amerlcun women seemed to her to be an exception to what she had always supposed to' be the general law of sex attraction. It wns taken, by the rather tense little circle gathered around her, ns n compliment; exnetly ns, no doubt, Grevllle Intended It to be tuken. But her look flushed out beyond the con fines of the circle und encountered a pair of big, luminous eyes, under brows thnt had a perplexed pucker in them. Whereupon she laughed straight Into Rose's face and said, lifting her head n little, but not her voice: "Como here, my child) and tell mo who you are and why you wero looking nt mo like that." Rose flushed, smiled thnt Irresistible wide smile of hers, und came, not frightened a bit, nor, exactly, era ba missed; certainly not Into pretend ing she wns not surprised, nnd n little breathlessly nt a loss what to say. "I'm Roso Aldrlch." She didn't, In words, say, "I'm Just Rose Aldrlch." It was the little bend in her voice thnt carried that Impression. "And I suppose I was looking that wny, be cause I was wishing I knew exnetly what you meant by what you said." Grevllle's eyes, somehow, concen trated and Intensified their gaze upon the flushed young fnce took a sort of plunge, so It seemed to Rose, to tho very depths of her own. It wns nn electrifying thing to have happen to you. "Mon Dleu I" she said. "J'al grande envlo do vous le dire." She hesitated the fraction of n moment, glunced nt n tiny watch set In a ring upon the middle finger of her right hand, took Rose by the arm as If to keep her from getting away, and turned to her hostess. "You must forgive me," she said, "if I make my farewells a little soon. I am under orders to linve some air each day before I go to the theater and If it is to be done at all today, It must be now. I am sorry. I have hud u very pleusnnt uftcrnoon. "Muko your farewells also, my child," she concluded, turning to her prisoner, "because you are going with me." No sooner wero they seated In the nctress' car und headed north along tho drive, than, Instead of answering Rose's question, tho actress repeated one of her own. "I usk you who you are, and you say your name Rose something. But thnt tells me nothing. Who nro you one of them?" "No, not exnetly," said Rose. "Only by accident. Tho man I married Is ono of them, in n way. I mean, be cause of his family and nil that And so they tnke me in." "So you ure mnrrled," suld tho Frenchwoman. "But not slnco long?" "Six months," said Rose. Sho said it so with tho ulr of regard ing It as a very considerable period of time, thnt Groville luughed. "But tell me about him, then, this husband of yours. I saw him perhaps nt tho tea this afternoon?" Roso laughed. "No, ho draws the lino nt tens," she said. "He says that from seven o'clock on, until as lato as I like, he's game, you know will ing to do whatever I like. But until seven, there nro no well, he says, siren songs for him." "Tell me you will forglvo the In discretion of n stranger? how has It nrrlved thnt you mnrrled him? Wns It ono of your American romances?" "It didn't seem very romantic," snld Rose. "Wo Just hnppcnod to get ac quainted, and we knew almost straight off that wo wanted to marry each other, so wo did, and It enmo out very well." "It 'camo out'?" questioned tho actress. "Yes," said Rose. "Ended happily, you know." "Ended I" Madame Grovlllo echoed. Then sho laughed. Roso flushed and smiled at herself. "Of course, I don't menn thnt," sho admitted, "and I suppose six months Isn't so very long. Still you could find out qulto a good denl ?" "What Is his affair?" Tho actress preferred asking another question, It seemed, to committing herself to nn nnswer to Roso's unspoken one. "Is ho ono of your what you call, tired business men?" "IIo's never tired," said Rose, "and ho isn't n business man. Ho's a law yer a rather special kind of lawyer. Ho has other lawyers, mostly, for his clients. no's awfully enthusiastic about it. Ho says It's tho finest pro fession in the world, if you don't let yourself get dragged down Into the stupid routine of it. 'It certainly sounds thrilling when ho tells nbout It." Tho nctress looked round at her. "So," sho snld, "you follow ills work as ho follows your play? He talks seriously to you about his affairs?" "Why, yes," said Rose, "we have wonderful tnlkB." Then sho hesitated. "At leust wo used to have. Thero hasn't seemed to be much time, lately. I supposo that's it." "Ono question more," said tho Frenchwoman, "and not nn Idle one you will believe that? Alorsl You love your husband. No need to ask thut. But whnt do you mean by love? Something vital and strong nnd essen tlul tho meeting of thought with thought, need with need, desire with desire?" "Yes," snld Rose after n llttlo silence, "that's what I mean." There was another silence, while the Frenchwomnn gazed contemplatively out of tho open window of the limou sine. Then Rose said: "But you are go ing to tell me what you meant nbout American women." Mudnme Grevllle took her time ubout nnswerlng. "They arc an enig ma to mo," she snld "I confess It. I hnven't ever seen such women nny where ns theso upper-class Americans. They nro beautiful, clover; they know "Mako Your Farewells Also, My Child." how to dress. For the first hour, or day, or week, of an acquaintance, they have a charm quite incomparable. And, up to n certain point, they ex ercise It. Your jeunes lilies are amaz ing. All over the world, men go mad about them. But when they marry . . ." She finished the sentence with n ghost of a shrug, and turned to Rose. "Can you account for them? Wero you wondering nt them, too, with those great eyes of yours? Alorsl Are we puzzled by the same thing? Whnt is it, to you, they lack?" Rose stirred a little uneasily. "I don't know," she said, "except that some of them seem a little dissatisfied und restless, ns If well, as if they wanted something they hnven't got." "But do they truly wnnt it?" Mu dnme Grevllle demanded. "I am willing to be convinced; but myself, I And, of your women of the aristocrat class, the type most characteristic is" she paused and said the thing first to herself In French, then translated "Is a passive epicure In sensations sensutlons mostly mentnl, irritating or soothing a pleasant variety. Sho waits to bo made to feel; she per petually tastes. They give a stranger like mo the Impression of being per fectly frigid, perfectly passionless. And so, as you say, of missing the great thing altogether. A few of your women are great, but not as women, and of second-rate men in petticonts you have a vast number. But a worn nn, grent by the qualities of her sex, nn artist in womanhood, I have not seen." "Oh, I wish," cried Rose, "that I knew whnt you meant by thnt I" "Why, regard now," said the actress. "In every capital of Europe (and I know them all), wherever you And great nffnlrs mnttcrs of state, diplo macy, politics you find the influence of women in them women of tho great world sometimes, sometimes of the hnlf-world . They mny not be benutlful I hnve seen n fnded woman of fifty, of no fnmlly or wealth, whose salon nttrncted ministers of stute; they hnven't tho educntlon nor tho lib erties that your women enjoy, nnd, In the mnss, they nre not regarded how do you say? chivalrously. Yet there they are 1 "And why? Becauso they nre capa ble of great passions, grent desires. They are willing to tnko tho art of womanhood seriously, mako Innumer able sacrifices for It, as ono must for any art, In order to triumph In It." Roso thought this over rather du biously. It was a new notion to her or almost new. "But suppose," she objected, "one doesn't wnnt to tri umph nflt? Suppose ono wnnts to bo n person, rather than Just n woman?" "Thero nre other enreers Indeed," Madame Grevllle admitted, "and ono enn follow them In tho snme spirit muko the sncrlfices puy tho ftrlco they demand. Mon Dleu! How I havo preached. Now you shall talk to me. It was for that-1 took you capilve and ran away with you." After her talk with the act ress, Rose begins to understand more why It Is that married folks don't always get along very well together. An Inter esting problem Is unfolded In the next Installment (TO HE CONTINUED.) MRS. KIESO SICK SEVEN MONTHS Restored to Health by Lydia E. Pinkham's Vogctable Compound. - Aurora. 111. 4 'For seven lone months I suffered from a female trouble, with severe pains in my back and sides until I becamo bo weak I could hardly walk from chair to chair, and got so nervous I would Jump at the slightest noiso. I was entirely unfit to do my house work, I was giving; up hopo of ever be ing well, when my sister asked me to try Lydin E. Plnkham's Vegetable Com pound. I took six bottles and today I am a healthy woman ablo to do my own housework. I wish every Buffering woman would try Lydia E. Pinkham'o Vogotablo Compound, and find out for themBolves how good it is." Mrs. CAM. A. KlESO, 696 North Avo., Aurora, 111. The great number of unsolicited tes timonials on file at the Plnkham Lab oratory, many of which are from time to time published by permission, aro proof of tho value of Lydia E. Pink ham's Vegotablo Compound, in the troatment of femalo ills. Every ailing woman in the United States is cordially invited to writo to the Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co. (confidential), Lynn, Mass., for special advice. It is free, will bring you health and may save your life. SHORT ON HIS "PER CAPITA" Boston Man Needs Only $37.50 to Make Up the $43 Which Every one Is Supposed to P08BC88. According to tho lutest populutlon figures with reference to the money In circulation In this country, every mnn, woman nnd child In tho United States should have $43 In his, hers or Its Jeans. Have you got yours? I haven't1 got mine, Newton Nowklrk writes In the Boston Post. It occurs to me thut when the fact becomes generally known that I haven't got mine some "per capita" who discovers that he bus considerably moro reudy cush In his pockets than ho ought to hnve nccordlng to this di vision of funds, will split with me, so thnt I will huve my normul quotn of dollars. All I need In order to havo my $43 Is $37.50. No hurry about it, of course, but tho sooner somebody remits me this $37.00 the more grateful I will be. There Is really no necessity that I cansee of delaying or postponing such a llttlo matter ns this. By n rapid mental arithmetical calculation It will readily be seen that I now huve $5.50 of tho $43 needed nnd before I huve spent uny portion of this $5.00 It would be well for somebody to make up the defi cit of $37.50 otherwise the deficit Is liable to be moro. A Little Game. "Come on," snld the first fleu, us ho hopped from tho brown beur's left fore leg ; "come over und join mo at a short game of golf." "Golf," exclnlmed tho second flea, hastily taking a bite of hyena ; "where In the realm of Barnum are wo go ing to play golf?" "Why," said the first ilea, "over on tho lynx, of course." She Knew. Reggie Thero's been something trembling on my lips for months nnd months, Mnrgle, nnd Margie Yes, so I see. Why don't you shnvo it off? Puck. International Accomplishments. "Can tho now recruit tnlk French?"' "No, but ho knows how to walk Spanish." Instant Postum A table drink that has taken the place of coffee in thousands of American homes. 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